Folk hero deserves promotion to Edmonton Oilers top “Hart” line on merit

This in from Tony Brar of Oilers TV at the Edmonton Oilers practice today, news that Edmonton’s newest folk hero, winger Corey Perry, has been promoted to the top line to play with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl on Saturday against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

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EDM lines & pairings – Friday’s practice:

• Ekholm & Klingberg are not on the ice

Draisaitl – McDavid – Perry
Arvidsson – RNH – Hyman
Podkolzin – Henrique – Brown
Skinner – Janmark – Kapanen
Philp

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Nurse – Bouchard
Kulak – Emberson
Stecher

Skinner
Pickard

My take

1. Corey Perry’s folks hero status is new in Edmonton but it’s intense just now, with Perry’s brilliant punking of Vancouver in a recent game against the Canucks. The big moment came when Perry retaliated for rough play against Oilers star Connor McDavid by picking up and dumping Canucks star Quinn Hughes on his head in a fight scrum.

We’ve seen other Oilers players win this folks hero status at times. Mike Smith a few years back when he fought Cam Talbot of the Flames at centre ice comes to mind. Then there was Evander Kane intimidating Matthew Tkachuk of the Flames in the 2022 playoffs. Of course, Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl are perennial local hockey heroes based on their brilliant play. But Perry has really hit the spot in recent games.

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Perry then cemented his status as a local hero by taunting and goading the Canucks the rest of the game, drawing a penalty by refusing to take on a fight.

It was an example of gamesmanship par excellence.

2. But it’s more than the Vancouver game that justifies the promotion of Perry on merit. Perry, who will turn 40 during the Stanley Cup playoffs this spring, has been a solid two-way performer for the Oilers at even strength this year.

He’d been so weak in the playoffs that I had questioned the team bringing him back this summer. He was, essentially, the least effective Oilers winger during the 2024 Stanley Cup run. I thought he was done as an NHLer.

But I was wrong.

This year he’s been effective on the attack. He’s fourth on the team in even strength goals with nine, behind only Leon Draisaitl, 26, Connor McDavid, 14, and Zach Hyman. 12. He’s also hung in there on defence, no worse than most of his fellow wingers.

3. Perry’s had some other big moments in recent games. He  was pushed into Buffalo goalie James Reimer, then pinned Reimer’s stick against the post, which prevented Reimer from making a save on goal by Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.

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And against Seattle he took a breakaway pass from Darnell Nurse and scored. Perry was about as wide open on that breakaway as you’ll ever see an NHL player.

He’s been on quite a run, as good at picking as he is at punking.

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4. It could well be that Perry’s slump in the 2024 playoffs was related to injury. We likely saw that same kind of slump with Darnell Nurse last playoff season. So as critical as the playoffs are in player evaluation, they’re just a small sample size, and you’ve got to factor in injury to your calculations, given how much players will keep playing with significant injury in May and June. In the regular season in 2023-24, Perry had been an effective performer for the Oilers.

5. And the Cult’s Bruce McCurdy adds: “Pretty sure that Draisaitl-McDavid-Perry will be the first full line of Hart Trophy winners since Toe Blake-Elmer-Lach-Maurice Richard in 1947-48. The Punch Line. Blake won the Hart in 1939, Lach in 1945, Richard in 1947. Blake’s career ended suddenly in January of 1948.”

The MVP Line? Or the Hart Line?

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